Royal Caribbean informed travel partners that four of its cruise ships will be redeployed in 2018-2019.

In an unusual occurrence, Royal Caribbean is changing the deployment of ships that have already been announced. Much of the change is merely swapping one cruise ship for another, but there are some cancellations included as well.

Majesty of the Seas will move to Tampa for sailings between 6/22/18 - 4/29/19.

The following Majesty of the Seas sailings are being cancelled: 5/7/18 - 6/18/18.

Guests on these canceled sailings will have their ship changed to Enchantment of the Seas.

Empress of the Seas sailings for 5/9/18 - 3/30/19 will be changed to Majesty of the Seas.

In addition to the change in ship, the 6/25/18, 8/6/18, 9/3/18, 9/17/18, and 10/1/18 sailings' itineraries will be modified.

Enchantment of the Seas will move to Port Canaveral, Florida for sailings between: 5/4/18 - 4/15/19

Guests on these sailings will be moved to Vision of the Seas, a ship in the same class.

The following Enchantment of the Seas sailings are being cancelled: 6/23/18 - 3/13/19 & 4/19/19.

Vision of the Seas is being moved to Galveston.

The following Vision of the Seas sailings are being cancelled: 3/9/19 - 4/13/19.

Royal Caribbean announced today a number of new sailing options to the Caribbean from New Orleans, Galveston and Miami.

After a three-year hiatus, Royal Caribbean will return to offering cruises from New Orleans, Louisiana with Vision of the Seas in the winter of 2018-2019. Beginning on December 15, 2018, Vision of the Seas will offer 7-night itineraries to the Bahamas and Yucatan Peninsula.

Before making her way to New Orleans, Vision of the Seas will offer two 16-night sailings through the Panama Canal from Miami to Los Angeles, California. This will be the first time in three years that Royal Caribbean has offered a cruise through the Panama Canal.

Lastly, Mariner of the Seas will call Miami, Florida home in 2018, following a transpacific cruise. Mariner of the Seas will be the first Voyager Class ship to offer short Caribbean sailings. Before she offers cruises from her new home, Mariner of the Seas will undergo an extensive 32-day revitalization. Once back in service, Mariner of the Seas will offer 3- and 4-night itineraries from PortMiami, beginning on June 21, 2018.

Enchantment of the Seas will join Liberty of the Seas in Galveston, Texas, offering 4- and 5-night Caribbean cruises. She arrives in Galveston on June 23, 2018. Guests currently booked on Enchantment for sailings departing Miami after June 23 will be contacted individually to transition the original booking to Mariner of the Seas.

Sailings onboard Mariner of the Seas will become available to book on May 1, 2017. Enchantment of the Seas and Vision of the Seas sailings will be available to book as of May 5.

From May 20, 2017 through the end of October, Rhapsody will offer a variety of exciting 7-night round trip sailings from Venice, Italy.

At the conclusion of the Mediterranean season, Rhapsody will return to Tampa, Florida as planned and begin sailings on November 19, 2017.

On August 22, Vision of the Seas will offer a 16-night Transatlantic sailing from Copenhagen, Denmark to Cape Liberty, New Jersey with several calls in Denmark, Norway, Scotland and Iceland.

On September 7, Vision will offer a 13-night open jaw sailing from Cape Liberty, New Jersey to Quebec City, Canada. The sailings departing from Cape Liberty on September 20, October 1, and October 11 will replace the previously planned sailings offered on Rhapsody and include calls in Boston, Massachusetts, as well as multiple ports in Maine and Nova Scotia.

Vision’s current fall Europe itineraries, including those departing from Venice, Italy from August 22, 2017 through November 17, 2017 will be canceled.

To accommodate guests booked on the affected sailings, Royal Caribbean will provide vacationers with a full refund of their cruise fare, the opportunity to re-book on another Royal Caribbean ship as well as an onboard credit to use during the newly booked sailing. In addition, vacationers who purchased airfare through Royal Caribbean will receive a full refund. Guests purchasing their own airfare will be given a refund for their airline change fee. All refund transactions will be automatically processed back to the original form of payment within four to six weeks. Commissions for travel agents will be protected for all cruises that are fully paid.

Guests requesting more information are asked to contact Royal Caribbean International’s customer service team at 1-800-256-6649 or their travel agent.

Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas skipped her scheduled stop at Labadee today because of concerns related to protests by locals in the area.

Photo by Michael C

Royal Caribbean confirmed that Vision of the Seas did not call on Labadee today. Guests onboard Vision of the Seas have indicated the ship will head to San Juan earlier than expected.

For guests wondering what the future holds for upcoming scheduled stops in Labadee, Royal Caribbean is still planning on taking the situation in Labadee on a day by day basis.

Vision of the Seas marks the third time a Royal Caribbean ship has skipped a stop at Royal Caribbean's private destination since the protests began last week.

In a statement, Royal Caribbean commented further on the situation, "Royal Caribbean has not received any guarantees or assurances that there will not be any protests in the future. If a protest takes place while a ship is port, there would be a significant impact on our guests’ ability to enjoy Labadee, or we may have to cancel the visit completely."

In a blog post by Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein, two announcements were made that were direct results of passenger feedback.

First up was the request by Royal Caribbean fans for more Panama Canal cruises. Goldstein announced that Vision of the Seas was slated to originally offer Caribbean cruises will instead sail a set of Panama Canal cruises in the fall and spring. The new Panama canal cruises will augment the other long Caribbean sailings already on the books.

In addition, Goldstein announced that Royal Caribbean will offer gluten-free beer by the end of the year in all of its Irish pubs across the fleet.

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